IEM Cologne is here

By Tam Mageean

The countdown to IEM Cologne has begun. Tomorrow, the World's finest League of Legends teams gather in Cologne, Germany for the heavily anticipated Intel Extreme Masters Tournament, where the two day battle for a piece of the $80,000 prize pot begins.

All the big guns are out, with the opening quarter final match-ups kicking off tomorrow. The Red will be taking on Gambit Gaming, while Counter Logic battle it out against Turquality Blue, with the winners advancing to the Semis, where Cloud9 and Fnatic will be waiting for them. These two heavyweights earned their positions in the semis after being voted in at "people's champions" in their regions, giving them a healthy start, and a day to relax and check out the rest of the competitive MMO festival.

In the Amateur Spotlight, a mini four-way tournament between Ninjas in Pyjamas, TCM Gaming, SK Gaming and The Copenhagen Wolves, who will all get a slice of the IEM prize pot too. The prize money is only part of it for these guys, as they're all flexing their muscles prior to entering the next season, all with reshuffled, reloaded teams, hoping to learn how to play under pressure with their new set-ups.

Sadly, the scheduled mmorts matchup was cancelled earlier this year, so there'll be no StarCraft II; it's all about League of Legends at the IEM.

The Intel Extreme Masters starts tomorrow at 10am GMT, running until late on Sunday. Streams can be found at ESL, TMG, Lordnod and Reload TV.